Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki about the ‘’800+’’ programme: it's a programme to increase opportunities for all our children
27.06.2023
The Members of the Council of Ministers were visited by special guests - children, the main beneficiaries under the ‘’Family 800+’’ programme. Today, the government has worked on the amendment to the Act, the purpose of which is, after the introduction of the changes, giving a benefit of PLN 800 per month to every child. We are adjusting the amount of support to the current needs of Polish families. Once the deliberations were over, together with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Minister Marlena Maląg, the little guests symbolically signed the ‘’800+’’ draft law. This is money that families can spend according to their needs – e.g., on a new bicycle, extracurricular activities or a holiday trip. We estimate that nearly 6.7 million children will benefit from the support in 2024.
PLN 800 per month for each child
Today, the Council of Ministers has adopted legislation that will introduce PLN 800 per month for each child from 1 January 2024. No other conditions for granting and payment of the suport will change. The increase in the benefit from PLN 500 to PLN 800 per month was proposed by Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński.
The additional PLN 300 per month is concrete support for families. We want to adjust the amount of the benefit to the current needs of Polish families. Increasing the amount would not have been possible without the good condition of our state's public finances.
- This is one of the most beautiful moments in the work of the Council of Ministers, when we can discuss, as we are doing today, the 500+ programme, which in a moment becomes the 800+ programme - stressed the head of the Polish government. - Why? First of all, because this whole great programme is a programme to raise respect for families, to increase opportunities for all our children so that they can afford extracurricular activities, extra dance lessons, music classes, sports activities, to go on holidays.
The ‘’Family 500+’’ programme
We introduced the programme in 2016. As of July 2019, the benefit is available for every child up to the age of 18 - without an income criterion. If a child started receiving ‘’500+’’ in 2016, it received a total of PLN 43,500 by June 2023. In 2024, we will allocate PLN 9,600 for each child. This is a revolution in the state's social policy. We have shown that we keep our word and care for Polish families. The level of spending on family policy places Poland at the forefront of European countries.
- We are very proud of this whole programme implemented and developed by us year after year. Initially, it was ‘’Family 500+’’, a programme that has practically eliminated poverty to a huge extent. European Union rankings are appearing showing that we are among the top four countries that can boast the greatest success in eliminating poverty – emphasised Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Supporting Polish families
The ‘’Family 500+’’ programme is not the only form of support offered by our government to Polish families. Among the implemented solutions, there are also:
- Family Care Capital, a benefit for parents of children aged between 12 and 35 months. The parents receive a total of PLN 12,000 for the second and each subsequent child. The benefit is available regardless of family income. To date, more than 220,000 children have benefited from the suport.
- Mother 4+ programme, through which we ensure a pension for parents who have raised at least four children and were not entitled to a pension. To date, almost PLN 2 billion has been paid out for that purpose, for more than 70,000 people.
- The Good Start programme, under which additional, one-off support of PLN 300 is offered to each pupil at the beginning of each school year. In total, almost PLN 7 billion has been paid to around 4.6 million children since the introduction of the programme.
